Street Roots vendor profile: An inseparable pair

Indica has one of those personalities that immediately makes you want to be her friend. An open, expressive face combines with an energetic personality and almost palpable self-confidence to make her truly charismatic.

This might explain why she has such online popularity. With a Facebook page and an Instagram account, Indica has a legitimate and growing fanbase in the online world. This is even more impressive if you consider she’s not even 3 years old.

“I think she was born in January,” said the dog’s life partner, Scott Mattson. “I’ve been told she was a purebred, but I’ve also been told she has a lot of pit and a lot of lab, so I think she was a lab pit mix.”

Scott and Indica are inseparable. If you ever need to know what room or business Scott’s ducked into, just look for Indica, posted up and staring at the door as if sheer willpower could induce him to return.

Scott has had Indica for a year, but they’ve known each other longer.

“I watched her grow from a puppy to when I got her, and I just was seeing that she was being abused, and it really hurt me. (Her first owner) went to jail, and the police asked me to watch her, and so I did. She deserved better.”

Indica is outgoing and carefree, making friends everywhere she goes, with humans and dogs alike.

This wasn’t always her way. Even when she found Scott, Indica struggled to heal from her past abuse.

“She was aggressive. She’s got PTSD. I can understand. She doesn’t like buses,” Scott said. “When she’s going through a doorway, she wants to get through as quick as possible. It’s the fear of being closed in.”

When asked, Scott was unequivocal about how he helped ease Indica from a life of trauma into being the outgoing social maven she is today.

“Love. Positive reinforcement. If you tell them and you show them that you care for them, they’re gonna listen. My unconditional love is what I give to her, too. I will do anything for her.”

Indica helps Scott navigate his life, as well, especially when it comes to the careful business of people.

“I could say I was a little jaded towards people. Cautious. Now I’m a lot happier,” he said.

“Out on the streets, I could not name all the people that I’ve met or associated with or know – thousands. She can judge just like that. She’s let me know the ones that come up that she doesn’t like to have around. She’ll just shy away from them. Others, she’s right there right on them.”

Not that they don’t have their disagreements now and again.

“She’s a 3-year-old who wants her way. If she doesn’t get her way, everyone’s gonna know it,” Scott said. “Her bark is loud. She will let everybody know, ‘I want my toy, and I want it now.’

“She gets her way. She’s 105 pounds! Have you seen those paws?”

Perhaps sensing an opportune segue, Indica ended our interview with a loud bark. Her ball had gotten stuck where she couldn’t reach it.

Street Roots is an award-winning, nonprofit, weekly newspaper focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. Our newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Learn more about Street Roots